Large graphs are ubiquitous in information technology, social networks, biological networks, etc., and people in these fields would like to browse the graphs they routinely deal with. In general, a large graph is made up of thousands of vertices representing information, and even more information links called edges that connect pairs of vertices. Typically, a large graph is depicted in diagrammatic form as a set of shapes representing the vertices joined by curves representing the edges.
There is a large amount of research on how to lay out a large graph. A graph with several thousand vertices and edges can be laid out in seconds on a regular personal computer. The graph layout is then used to render and display the graph. Viewing and browsing such a graph typically requires that thousands of vertices and edges be rendered and displayed.